Saturday, April 16, 2011

Orwell

TV Continues To Rack In Special Interests ADS

The pro-Cuomo Committee to Save NY has funds left over and will continue to advocate for mandate relief and a property tax cap. The anti-Cuomo budget forces aren’t going away, either. * Mayor Bloomberg’s taking on Cuomo’s budget deal in a new mailer. “Our hard-earned tax dollars go to Albany, but now Albany politicians want to balance their budget by cutting billions of dollars from New York City,” says the message that is “paid for by Michael R. Bloomberg.” (WNYC)

Local TV New Harms Our Democracy

Local TV has moved way beyond happy talk and good looking clueless reporters. They now have become the instrument that the special interests communicate with the public and government leaders. Now the mayor whose has been attacked by the UFT and AFL-CIO in ads is running his own commercials. Ads have also been run by in support of the Cuomo budget by the big business back Committee to Save NY, The NYS Democratic Party and the governor himself. The mayors ad features the kind of upbeat music and imagery one would normally expect from a political front-runner. The union is not mentioned by name. Instead of being punished for their lack of objective analysis on Albany's budget battles the owners of the TV stations are now making millions from the mayor and other special iterests trying to win the budget battle.

Baruch College Prof. Doug Muzzio makes his usual dumb one liner quote for the press, "the ad makes it look like Bloomberg is running for something, but perhaps it’s the position of “independent wise man.” Prehaps Prof. Muzzio should love at what this issue ads are doing to our democracy. If we had more experienced investigative reporters there be less corruption in New York.